New guideline released for managing vegetative and minimally conscious states

Venerdì 10 Agosto 2018 00:00
amministratore

August 8, 2018, American Academy of Neurology

For people in a vegetative or minimally conscious state caused by brain injury, an accurate diagnosis and ongoing medical and rehabilitative care based on the latest scientific evidence could mean a better chance for recovery, according to a new guideline by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.

The guideline on prolonged disorders of consciousness is published in the August 8, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the AAN. About four in 10 people who are thought to be unconscious are actually aware. This guideline gives recommendations to improve diagnosis, health outcomes and care of people with these disorders.

"People are sometimes misdiagnosed due to underlying impairments that can mask awareness," said guideline lead author Joseph T. Giacino, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. "An inaccurate diagnosis can lead to inappropriate care decisions and poor health outcomes. Misdiagnosis may result in premature or inappropriate treatment withdrawal, failure to recommend beneficial rehabilitative treatments and worse outcome. That is why an early and accurate diagnosis is so important."